Soul Eater: Dance of Souls
by zkadams
Summary: This is a reworking of the Soul Eater story with some of the genders of main characters changed and other things. The story borrows elements from the original (obviously) but takes things in a different direction. There are some relationship things explored as well.


**Soul Eater: Dance of Souls**

All was quiet except for the sound of a frenetic chase, the sound of footsteps pounding on cobblestones and the huffing breath of one person in chase and the rather unnatural scrabbling, scraping sounds of the prey. Prey is not quite the proper term for the monstrosity that tore through the deserted streets.

The creatures hands had long scythe-like claws and it moved with surprising swiftness, considering it's rather awkward gait.

Its eyes gleamed red, sinister my reflecting the moonlight and street lamps as he passed.

The creatures pursuer was a young boy, in his early teens, wielding a scythe. He was not as fast as his quarry, but he was determined.

Determination had always been a hallmark of young Maka Albarn, that and sheer bravery.

Despite his rather unassuming appearance, Albarn was a young scythe-meister at the DWMA. In fact, he was second in his year. Along with his female weapon partner, a young scythe called Soul, Maka found himself to be the object of much admiration at the school and shared a close relationship with Lord Death himself.

It certainly helped that his father was Lird Death's personal weapon. A powerful death scythe who was made so by his second partner, the woman who also happened to be Maka's mother.

suddenly, the chase took a turn in Maka's favour, the hellish creature he pursued found itself winded and backed into an alley way.

"Oh, thank God," said Soul, her musical voice somehow pouring out of her metallic shape, "that chase was really getting to be 'whatever.'"

Maka raised his eyebrows at this while remarking under his breath, "soul, you do realize that I have done all the running, right?"

Soul snickered at this, "well, obviously. I'm just saying that you're starting to really sweat and sweating is really unattractive; trust me, I know cause I'm a girl. Only I would talk to you right now, but I'm probably the coolest chick in the whole school."

"Anyway, I'm hungry for my 99th kishin soul; so, let's finish this guy."

Rolling his eyes, Maka quipped "Right away, madam."

To the creature he said, "you, Jack the Ripper have long fled the path of humanity, developing your soul into a kishin egg through unspeakable actions. I come in the name of Lord Death to claim your wretched soul."

Jack the Ripper merely snarled and muttered something inarticulate. He was one of the few Kishin who lost their wits along with their humanity. The former Human was now a ghostly shell that knew only hunger.

Human or not, Jack the Ripper was in a position no creature wants to be in, at least if they were told what would happen to them.

The Ripper's eyes had the quality of a dead fish's and his pupils took up most of the eye in a similar manner. His body had become as twisted as his soul. His muscles were pulled about his bones in a seemingly haphazard fashion and everything about him reeked of the stuff of nightmares and, like any animal, the Ripper was all the more dangerous for having been cornered.

Maka stood in the most basic scythe-meister fighting stance and prepared to engage his enemy, keeping his breathing low and even.

The attack came swiftly with Jack the Ripper charging by pouncing up and off the nearest wall, slashing his hideous claws towards Maka.

Using Soul to parry, Maka quickly began his counter offensive, immediately landing a blow on one of the Ripper's shoulders.

The Ripper screamed in his monstrous voice and made another attempt to slash with his other arm.

Maka countered by flipping backwards and planting his foot for a finishing move.

He kicked his leg and charged under the Ripper's extended arm while holding Soul out just in front of him.

Maka stopped his momentum and used his new position to bring Soul's blade through the Ripper's back while uttering a loud yell.

The Ripper's back caved and his torso and legs went in two different directions with a minimum amount of blood flying everywhere due to the emergence of the Kishin's soul. His body turned into a black sort of vortex and dissipated leaving only his tainted soul behind, glowing in an insidious red color.

With a flash of light Soul transformed back into her human form, delicately grasping the newly freed soul.

She turned it over in her hand and remarked, "I love how so many of these things match my eyes." With a sheepish smile she opened her mouth wide and consumed their quarry. Upon swallowing she noticed that she was drooling just a bit and embarrassedly covered her mouth with her handkerchief and wiped it clean.

"Sorry," she mumbled, "I honestly can't help doing that. It's so unbecoming, but my goodness these souls are so tasty."

Curious, Maka said, "What exactly do they taste like?"

Soul did not immediately respond, putting her finger to her lips and pursing them slightly.

"Well, I guess it's a bit like normal meat, but the exact taste differs with each Kishin." She let that phrase hang and then said with a smirk, "The Ripper's soul tasted surprisingly like chicken and I am cannot even begin to figure out why that would be…"

Maka was about to respond and then stopped, confused as to whether or not his weapon partner was joking.

Deciding that it likely didn't matter all that much, Maka let out a soft snicker. "Alright, then," was all he said in response.

Nothing left to say, the partners began walking back towards Soul's motor bike, which they had left blocks away during the chase.

Soul walked with her usual leisurely pace, her long white hair cascading down about halfway down her back. She wore her usual favorite hoodie that was emblazoned with "Soul Eater" on the sleeves and a pair of black shorts, that were quite short in length. They showed off her legs quite nicely and Maka usually made a point of trying not to notice when Soul wore such clothing. But, in the end, he had to admit that Soul was a beautiful girl.

Still, Maka thought to himself, there is no point in doing anything about it because it might mess up their working relationship. That sort of emotional entanglement should be avoided if at all possible. Not that Soul was not likable, she wasn't lying when she claimed her status as the coolest girl in the DWMA, it was just that Maka had a particular mission to make Soul into a true Death Scythe and worried what such affections would do to this mission. Would they be less effective if such things happened? Maka had no way of telling and it didn't help that his parents were once weapon and partner.

Watching one's parent's relationship crash and burn was enough to make anyone cautious and Maka had always been cautious.

"What's on your mind, Maka?" Soul asked suddenly, prompting Maka to realize that he had been silent for some time.

"Oh, it's nothing really. Just a lot of random thoughts." He shook his head, his chin length blonde hair flipping back and forth, and shrugged. "Don't worry too much about it."

He picked up his paced, his long coat trailing behind him. Letting out a mildly annoyed sigh, Soul made a move to catch up to him. Soon they were jogging towards their destination, now just a single block away.

I wish Maka would open up a bit more, Soul thought as they neared her bike. They hopped on, Soul in front and Maka directly behind and started the bike.

Soul started the bike with her signature flourish, tossing her mane of white hair over her shoulder, brushing Maka's nose and tickling it. Maka could not help but note that Soul's hair smelled wonderful and had the added bonus of reminding him of his favorite time of year-autumn.

Damnit, do not think like that, Maka told himself. He felt ridiculous, especially when taking into consideration his resolve from earlier. Plus, he mused silently, there was no way to tell how Soul felt because she was so damned mysterious. Why did Maka have to like the mysterious girls?

In any case, neither could complain about the status quo because it had been fruitful. Soul was already one witch's soul away from becoming a full blown death scythe. It helped that Maka was near the top of their class and that Soul showed as much weapon talent as she possessed while at a piano, which is to say a mountain of it because she hailed from a famous music family and was considered talented even amongst them.

Even so, getting Soul to open up about her family, particularly her elder sister, was like getting answers out of a young child with little inclination to speak. In fact, Soul could clam up with the best of any terrible two-year-old.

As they neared the rendezvous point, both felt a sense of exhilaration and trepidation. They were so close to their goal, but that final hurdle was a doozy. There was no telling what sort of which they would be sent after nor was there anyway to get a preview of said witch's abilities. Here analysis skills would be paramount.

The rendezvous point was at the window of a closed shop, where Maka used his breath and fingers to write out the code to summon Lord Death at his mirror.

The students felt it odd that he never left death city, never left the academy really, but had grown use to it. Perhaps he just wasn't a people person.

"Well, hello! How did everything go, Maka and Soul?" Said Lord Death in his insanely cheerful manner.

"Just fine, Lord Death," said Maka with a small smile, "we are looking forward to getting the witch's soul you have lined up for us. Is it someone near here?"

"Why, yes, actually," answered Death "the witch in question is actually a witch named Blaire

, who has a thing for pumpkins and general terror."

"She needs to be stopped, and doing so will bring another death scythe into the world. We will be that much safer."

"She lives in a pumpkin house on the outskirts of the town you are in. Do be careful, any screw ups will result in the loss of every soul you've collected Thus far. You will begin the process again if you prove to be unready for this challenge."

Both Maka and Soul stood up a tad straight as they both chirruped "yes, sir!"

With that Lord Death disappeared and the hunt began.

**Pumpkins and Witches**

Under the light of the lesser sun, Soul and Maka made their way to the witch Blair's home.

"Let's stop the bike here and walk the rest of the way, wouldn't want to lose the element of surprise," Maka practically shouted above the din. Nodding silently, Soul slowed down the bike and glided into a parking space near a shop.

"In just a few short hours, the sun will return. Just think," Soul whispered excitedly as they disembarked, "I could be a Death Scythe by tomorrow!" Forgetting herself for a moment, she embraced a suddenly embarrassed Maka from behind.

Maka, feeling Soul's proximity and noting the firmness of her breasts, shimmied in an odd manner to give himself a bit of distance before responding. "It's great, Soul. It'll be our greatest accomplishment." He permitted a sheepish smile then while thinking to himself that he needed to get a grip.

_I mean, honestly, Maka. She is your weapon partner, no good can come of this, _he thought. His troubled mindset apparently was showing on his visage because Soul suddenly asked, "Are you doing alright, Maka?" She tilted her head to the side slightly, affording her partner a sidelong glance that combined concern and mirth in an nigh irresistible adorableness.

Maka cleared his throat and mumbled, "Oh, don't worry. I'm fine, really."

He smiled nervously and absent-mindedly ruffled his hair.

After walking for around 15 minutes, the town abruptly ended in a clearing just before an extremely foreboding forest. The forest was said to house the witch Blair and many legends had cropped up about what happened to people who went too far into her domain.

"Remember," said Maka, "we need to scope out the place first. Supposedly, it is some sort of pumpkin house…" Maka trailed off as he noted that Soul was not listening and had already begun to trot into the suspicious forest.

With an inward sigh, Maka followed.

The forest remained thick for a long time, neither Soul nor Maka had on a watch, so they had no clue how long they had been in the forest. All they really knew was that it felt like it had be forever. They were both growing concerned that they had taken a wrong turn and that the witch's soul was going to be out of their grasp before they even got close.

Soul was still a ways ahead of Maka and was turning around to say something when she suddenly fell from sight.

"Soul!" Maka shouted as he began to run after her.

Soul had little time to try to right herself as she found herself first in the air and then rolling down a steep incline, her slender form being scratched by stray twigs and dirt, narrowly avoiding concussing herself on a couple of the larger rocks.

She came to a stop in a heap, her hair and clothes looking worse for the wear. That, Soul thought silently, was incredibly uncool.

Deciding to get her bearings, she sat up slowly, hoping to keep her equilibrium by doing so and felt lucky to not feel a rush of blood to her head and to have avoided striking said head. Having a busted cranium, after all, was quite uncool.

She started to look around as she got up slowly. Suddenly, she noticed an odd orange glow just west of her current position. She turned slowly and was surprised to see a gigantic pumpkin, one big enough for someone to live in.

I guess the rumors were true, she thought.

She gave a start as she head frantic footsteps kicking up the dirt behind her. She turned primed for a fight and was thankful that she only saw Maka making his way toward her.

She said nothing and merely turned back to look at the house as Maka sidled up to her.

"This must be the place." Maka said softly. Soul merely nodded in response and the two partners began their approach.

**A Witch's Soul?**

As Soul and Maka got close to the house they began to hear noises. It was like the mew of a cat with laughter sprinkled in.

"So, she's a cat lady?" Said Soul.

With a small smile Maka responded, "I guess so."

"Let's come up with a plan of attack." He continued and turned back to Soul who, true to her impetuous nature and Maka's chagrin, was already charging the front door.

"Soul! What are you doing?!"

Soul merely tossed a sideline smirk at her partner and continued her charge. She quickly barged up the stairs and found the source of the noise. She transformed one arm into a scythe and slashed through the door, then kicking it down.

She made a charge and stopped short when she saw a beautiful woman bathing.

"Oh, god! I'm so sorry ma'am!" Soul yelped as she high-tailed it out of the room just as a breathless Maka showed up. He too took I'm the beautiful and quite naked woman and noticed that he had gained a slight nose bleed, which he embarrassedly tried to wipe away.

He was too late, however. Soul noticed his facial feux pas and it immediately elicited a scowl with exceedingly narrowed eyes.

"Ugh!" She howled. "What is it with boys and a huge rack!?"

"We've got work to do, scythe meister!"

She then turned fully into her weapon form in a huff and landed in Maka's outstretched hand. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, "let's go to work."

However the bathing woman had finally decided to speak up. "Who, pray tell, are you two?" She inquired with a Leering, seductive smile.

"I'm Maka Albarn, a scythe meister from the academy, and I've come to take your soul."

**A Terminal Battle Joined?**

Maka's confident declaration promoted a hearty laugh from the woman, who then sneered "oh, so you've found me out?" She magically dressed her self and eliminated the bathtub. She wore the traditional witch's hat with some flair of her own. It was crooked to the side and slightly obscured her left eye. The rest of her costume was more reminiscent of a dominatrix than a witch, a tight, leathery sort of affair.

The outfit would have made any one else fall out in ecstasy, but Maka was always full of focus when things got down to it;plus, he didn't know this woman, was supposed to kill her and had eyes for Soul. Being scantily clad was hardly enough to get Maka off of his game.

The two opponents began to circle each other in the spacious bathroom, Maka taking in every detail of his surroundings, looking for an environmental advantage.

Unfortunately, nothing was especially forthcoming. Maka began to sigh inwardly when the witch suddenly made her move.

Muttering some incantation that only contained the word pumpkin in it, the witch Blaire summoned several pumpkins all at once. The lights in the bathroom burst from the surge of power.

Maka suddenly was faced with a most unusual conglomeration of pumpkins. One was large enough for the witch to mount-which she did immediately. The others were letting off a strange mix of orange and green light, lighting up the room like a sinister disco.

In his head Maka heard Soul scoff, "did she purposely make it look like a disco hall that was thrown out from the mouth of some giant?"

"Seriously, that's about as uncool as one can get. Let's take her down, Maka."

With a grim smile, Maka made his first attack, running in a cute toward his target and holding Soul in the classic reaping strike, Soul's black and red blade glinting in the horrendous disco light.

It was not long before Blaire chose it counter attack, mumbling incarnations that sent the smaller pumpkins careening toward her adversary.

Maka flipped, weaved and dodged his way around the pumpkin barrage. It was a good thing too, as the pumpkins exploded with each impact, shaking the foundation of the house.

Rolling and then running in an arc, with the witch Blaire as the endpoint, Maka swept Soul back deftly and attempted to split the witch into two neat pieces. With surprising agility, the witch first slipped underneath Soul's blade and then performed a perfect back handspring to afford her some much needed distance.

She smirked as her golden eyes glinted in the moonlit, which now shown throughout the bathroom as if it were peeking through blinds. She suddenly hopped backward out of the house, landing some distance away.

Maka ran after her and jumped out into the night as well. He landed in a crouch and stood, holding Soul out at the ready. They communicated with their minds, trying to formulate a plan of attack.

"She's pretty quick," Soul said, "I think the only method to win with is sheer trickery."

"What do you have in mind?" Maka replied.

"Well, we've got to get close, don't we?" Soul drawled. "Yeah, that's right." said Maka. "I think there is a way to do that, there's something odd about her. I think we will have to keep her busy a little bit longer. I just need to figure something out." Soul replied.

Asking nothing more, Maka nodded and then began his assault anew, swinging Soul in various ways while the witch deftly dodged each attempt. Maka also began to take in more information about the witch with each swing. He was beginning to see that there was something odd about how the witch moved. It was nearly...

"Oh, my word! She's a cat!" Soul practically shouted in Maka's head. Maka's eyes widened as he too made the connection. He took another quick swipe to confirm, Blair obliging them with a nimble, cat-like leap.

"Okay, we know that she's like a feline. Now, what?" Maka asked Soul. Soul did not immediately respond. "Actually, I am not sure. You're the brains. I just thought watching her movements would help." she replied. Maka rolled his eyes and said, "Of course."

He then set his brain working to solve the problem. Why would a witch move like a cat? He was not making much sense of it. He knew that witches were attached to animal familiars. The familiars were a race of gods, all of the animal kingdom and it was of them that the first witches were born. He knew the history like the back of his hand, but he had only heard of witches moving like their familiars while transformed into the familiar's shape. A snake witch became a snake, a cat witch became a cat. But, why was she moving like this while she was not transformed. Something was off, but Maka just couldn't place it.

to be continued.


End file.
